Well, it's been noticible over the past few days, but my brakes have been squeeling a lot recently, there seems to be quite a bit of fade and there seems to be a 'dead' spot in the pedal (like i have to push it harder). so my guess is that it's time for some new stopping power. I was thinking about going with the Mintex pads and rotors that batinc.net has for like $113 (the ones with the standard rotors, no slots or drills). good or bad? and is this something that I can do myself? oh BTW i just turned 26000 miles on my '03.

Take it in, you are under warranty, they shouldn't be wearing out that fast. That is what I would do.....

As for swapping out the rotors, pads, yes you can do that yourself but before I would go and dig into my pocket, I would talk to the dealership and complain, your car isn't even a year old (well 03 and it's 04 now) and you might not have to pay anything as they will fix it for you. Worth a check before spending the cash.

This IS normal wear and tear. No warranty for that. You can easily change the brakes for your vehicle and the Mintex pads and Rotors are a great buy. If you can afford it, go for the drilled and slotted set since it isn't that much more and can actually extend the life of the brakes a little.

Problem is that the rotors on the focus are cheap. New rotors will help as long as the quality is good. Another issue that most folks with an ATX will tell you is that the little front brakes on our cars get used up really quick on them. The drilled and slotted rotors will help...a little...and will extend rotor life a little but I am not in any way saying they will last a lot longer. Another thing to look at is that the braking is a little better. It allows the brakes to heat up but not get as hot and also allows the disipation of heat.

I am really studying up on brakes for my car since it is an ATX sedan and I am about to have to buy my 2nd set of brakes.

I'd recommend the Hawk Pads and Powerslot Rotors. On my mothers Taurus, her factory rotors keeped warping and i replaced those damn rotors twice personally. It was my brothers car before that and he had them replaced through the factory a couple of times as well. My brother bought that PowerSlot/Hawk Pad combination and we've never had the problem since. It's been almost 3 years since we replaced them. Plus she can almost stop on a dime with those. And when i drive it they get a work out.

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